


Until I Get There

by hunters_retreat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BOM Keith, Keith (Voltron) was Raised by the Blade of Marmora, Krolia is awesome but often absent, M/M, Original Blade characters - Freeform, Pining, Shiro takes Keith on dates without him knowing it, Soulmarks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 07:38:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18824152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: The day after Keith's father died, a strange group of aliens came to collect him to take him to his mother.  This is a look at how things might have happened, if Keith had been raised by the Blade of Marmora.





	Until I Get There

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Sheith Prompt Bang](https://sheith-prompt-bang.tumblr.com/)! I was lucky to snag the most incredible artist for this! White-Shade-Of-Pale did this[stunning art](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/white-shade-of-pale/184859668000) for the story! Please go give some serious love because I can't tell you how much I adore it! This artist was amazing to work with!!!! I am sooooo lucky! Also. beta by viribird who came in short notice and really knocked this piece into shape! That a great challenge and I can't wait to read the rest of the stories that came from it!!

   

 

The day started like any other, but Keith would never forget it.  He would never forget the heat of flame or the smell of smoke that clogged his throat and that would forever rest on the back of his tongue.  He would never forget the news that his father had been called out to a fire while Keith had visited the fire station to join them for lunch, or that he had run, his 8-year-old legs too short and too weak to get him there quick enough.

Flames danced higher into the sky as the building let out a haunted groan, and then part of the roof collapsed in on itself.  Keith screamed, and in an outpouring of strength he wasn’t known for, he pushed past the police officer who was holding him back.

He rushed into the house and managed to make it through the front door.  Heat seared his clothes, and he could smell the stench of singed hair even if the flame had yet to touch him.  He raised one arm up to cover his eyes as best he could as he shouted, “Dad!”

He could barely keep his eyes open for all the debris in the air and the heat that sucked the water from his eyes, but he pressed on. He had to find his Dad. He was all he had in this world and Keith would never give up on him. He couldn’t.

“Dad! Please!”

There was another loud groan, and Keith looked up in time to see the ceiling beam above him snap.  He would have been crushed, except strong arms pulled him back and away. 

“We can’t stay in here!” A voice screamed over the fire.  Keith didn’t know who it was, but he felt fire sear into his back, and he screamed as flames raged everywhere. Arms wrapped around him, picked him up and carried him out, even as Keith fought to free himself.  The pain in his back was unbearable and it hindered his desperate attempts to flee back towards the burning building where his father was.

He was on the grass then, surrounded by onlookers and the fire and police force his father had worked with.  The young man who carried him dropped to his knees with Keith still held in his iron grip.  Keith sat, straddling the man’s thighs, his arms reaching past as if he could get back to his father.

“Dad!” Keith screamed with the last of his breath.

“I’m so sorry,” the young man said as he held on.  

Keith screamed wordlessly until he was hoarse, but the young man didn’t let go. He held tight, as if he knew Keith would rather plummet into the fire, to certain death, than be without his father.  And he was right.  Keith didn’t know what else to do, how else to love.

When he was too exhausted to fight, he realized medical personnel were circling them, trying to pry Keith from the young man’s arms to attend to both their injuries.  Keith stopped struggling and he felt the arms around him loosen, but there was a stiffness to the body under him that made him think he would stop Keith if he ran for the house again.

A large crash startled them both, and Keith was turned slightly as the young man twisted to look at the house.  They both watched as it collapsed completely in on itself. 

Keith dropped his forehead to the young man’s shoulder, and he didn’t care who saw him cry.  He didn’t care what happened next. Everything in his life had just been taken from him.  At least for a moment, there was the comfort of someone who wasn’t afraid to hold onto the wild boy Keith had always been known as.  

Strong arms held him and stroked his hair.  A litany of comfort was offered softly into his ear until Keith was too exhausted to even shed tears.  

When he sat back, he realized the young man wasn’t even a man.  A Garrison student by the uniform he wore, but still a teen.  He looked at Keith with sympathetic gray eyes and the kind of understanding that came of shared experience.  Whoever he was, he’d lost before too. 

“Keith, let me check you out,” one of the EMTs from his Dad’s firehouse said softly as he knelt down beside them.

Keith looked at the young man and realized he was still sitting on him. He stood up and waited as the young man got to his feet and followed him over to the ambulance. Keith sat on the end of the truck and let them run tests, and the young man stayed at his side. When they tried to load him into the ambulance, Keith grabbed the Garrison student by the hand.

“Go,” the young man said with a gravelly voice but a kind smile.  “What’s your name?”

“Keith Kogane,” he said, his voice a hoarse rasp to what he normally sounded like.

“Go to the hospital and let them check you out.”  The teen turned serious then and he took both of Keith’s hands in his own.  “I’ll come find you.”

Keith swallowed against the lump in his throat because he was cried out and he shouldn’t have any more tears left, but somehow, leaving this other man seemed to be too much.  

“Keith, we need to check him out too,” the EMT reminded him.

Keith saw then, the ash smears on his face and the uniform that was burnt in places.  He thought of the voice too rough for a man his age - a boy, really.  He thought of the fire on his back that no longer seared, but ached seemingly all the way to his heart and through his lungs.  

“You’ll find me.”

“I will,” he said with a solemness that Keith believed.  

Keith let go of his hands, but before he could move the young man pulled him into his embrace and pressed a kiss to his temple.  “I will find you, Keith Kogane.  Take care until I get there.”

The teen was pulled away then by another EMT and Keith was bundled up and strapped into the back of the ambulance.

He never knew if the young man looked for him or not.  When he woke the next morning, he was surrounded by aliens, all claiming to be his mother’s people, and he was taken on an adventure to the stars.

On long nights and through rough missions though, Keith often thought of strong arms, gray eyes, and the promising press of lips against his skin.

“I will find you, Keith Kogane,” he whispered to himself on those nights.  “Take care until I get there.”

 

***

 

“What’s she like?” Keith asked.  He stood with his back straight and his eyes forward, but Ulaz nudged him softly in the side and Keith relaxed a little.    

“What would you like to know, Yurak?” Ulaz asked.  

“Anything. Besides—“

“She’s a good warrior,” they said in unison.  

Keith laughed, and Ulaz gave a small, half smile that was almost the same as a laugh from the older Blade.  In the four years he’d been under Ulaz’s care, he’d only seen him laugh once, and Keith preferred not to remember the circumstances.  He still refused to go into the third-tier training room, two years later.

“She’s very proud of you, Yurak.  Just because she hasn’t been able to be here doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about you, or that she doesn’t ask about you.”

“I just … I don’t want to disappoint her.  I mean…” Keith shrugged as he looked down at himself.  “Look at me.”

And that was really what had him so nervous.  He’d never seen his mother.  Well, he must have when he was a baby, but he didn’t remember her at all.  His father never said much about her, just that she’d had no choice but to leave.  

When Keith was taken away from Earth after his father died, he’d expected her to be waiting.  After Kolivan brought him to the base though, Ulaz was there instead.  He took care of Keith and train him in their ways while his mother was under deep cover against the Galra Empire.  

Would she take one look at his human appearance and hate him?  Would she walk away and decide he wasn’t Galra enough?

Ulaz and Kolivan wouldn’t make him leave the only home he had, but Keith wanted her acceptance.  He’d worked so hard for it.  He was only 12, but he was already a good fighter and Antok had promised to start training him with weapons, now that he wasn’t likely to trip over his own feet during maneuvers.  He knew he could make her proud if she just gave him a chance.

“Are you ready for this, young Yurak?” Kolivan asked.  He stepped through the bay doors behind them as a fighter ship was flying into the station.  He put a hand on Keith’s shoulder, and Keith nodded at the leader of the Blade of Marmora.  

He was an important man, the most important in Keith’s mind with the way he was leading them to break the Galra’s hold over all the other races of the galaxy, but he always had time for Keith.  He’d been like a father figure to him, almost as much as Ulaz.

“As ready as I can be,” Keith tried to be glib about it, but he was sure both the men could read his nervousness.  

The fighter came into the bay and Keith was impressed by the smooth landing.  He hadn’t been in one of those ships yet, but he was training to fly them someday.  All his trainers said he could be one of the best pilots in the galaxy if he kept his training up.  Keith intended to.

Kolivan gave him a smile as he let go of his shoulder and walked past him.  The fighter door opened and a woman stepped out.  Keith was still, frozen with emotion he couldn’t even name.  He had pictures of her, but he never realized how beautiful she really was.  Tall and strong, with a fierceness to her that he could see in the way she carried herself.  She was ready for a fight, but there was none of the tension that showed she meant to start one. 

Kolivan stepped up to Krolia and embraced her quickly as a crew began working on her fighter.  Krolia stepped away, speaking with Kolivan but in just a moment her eyes began to search the hangar.  A large smile crossed her face as her gaze locked in on Keith. 

The few pictures Keith had were old training photos, and while she was an attractive Galra, she had looked hard and unyielding.  When she smiled at him, everything changed. 

Kolivan stepped away from her even though Keith knew they couldn’t possibly be done yet.  Krolia didn’t seem to notice that she was dismissing the leader of their organization as she ran across the bay towards him.  She fell to her knees in front of him, and before he could think to say anything, she pulled him into her arms.

He buried his face in her neck and nuzzled his nose against the base of the markings on her cheek. Of all the ways he’d imagined her reacting, this was never one of them.

“Keith,” she said softly as she pulled back and looked at him.  Her eyes glanced over him and he tried to hold his head up, to puff out his chest and look bigger than he was.  He’d been small even for a human.  He hated that he was a runt among the Galra too.

“Keith,” she said again, this time cupping his face in her gigantic hand.

“Yurak,” he corrected.  She tilted her head slightly as if asking for an explanation and he smiled.  “Keith isn’t a very Galra sounding name.  Dad used to tease that you were going to name me Yurak.  I thought it was a joke until I came here.”

“The Blade can call you what they want,” she said as she pulled him close again.  “You will always be my Keith.  I love you so much.  I’m so sorry I had to leave you.  When I heard about your dad,” she paused, and Keith could see the pain in her eyes.  “I wanted so much to come to you, but I was undercover.  The best I could do was contact Kolivan and send him to get you, to make sure you weren’t alone.”

“I know,” Keith said with a smile as he stepped back.  “Kolivan told me how he knew to come get me.  Dad wasn’t a soldier like the members of the Blade, but he died protecting people from a fire.”  It mattered to him that she knew.  He had died a hero. 

She smiled sadly.  “There are many different battles to face in this universe, Keith.  Your father was a soldier in a different war altogether, and as brave as any Blade I’ve ever met.  Even if I hadn’t known and loved him, I would have known for how he raised you.”

Keith felt a lump in his throat, but he swallowed hard against it.  He didn’t talk about his dad much.  The Blade of Marmora was filled with kind, caring individuals, but they were soldiers.  Sometimes loss was too close.  Sometimes it was too much.  Sometimes, it had to be pushed aside to get to the next mission.

“Krolia.” Keith turned to look up at Kolivan as he stepped up beside them.

“We still need to finish the briefing,” Kolivan reminded her.  “Once we’re done, I believe Yurak has been given the next two days off his training to spend time with you.”

“I could come to the briefing,” Keith offered.  “I’ll stay quiet, out of the way. Then I could show Krolia our quarters.”

When he had moved in with the Blade, Krolia had lived in a small room with few personal items.  Ulaz had moved Krolia’s things to two-person living quarters next to his own so that he could keep an eye on Keith and so that he would be able to live with his mother when she was on base.

Kolivan looked at Ulaz for a moment before the other Blade nodded his head slightly.  Keith smiled because he knew then that Kolivan would allow it.  Ulaz was his guardian, after all, and if he believed Keith could sit in on the meeting, Kolivan would trust in his opinion.

“Alright then.  That makes sense, Yurak.  I’m sure Krolia would appreciate the help finding her new quarters, especially after such a long flight.”

Krolia had watched the interaction between the two and Keith could see she was trying to put the pieces together.  Who was in charge of her son, where was the authority, and who was responsible? 

She smiled at him when she caught his eye again.  

“Let’s get this over with then.  I have other duties to attend to once we’re done,” Kolivan said.  

Krolia followed him out the door and Ulaz smiled at Keith, who decided walking a step behind the two Blades with Ulaz was a better idea than trying to gain his mother’s attention just yet.    

“I told you,” Ulaz whispered for Keith.  “Nothing to worry about, Earth-Child.”

He smiled at the pet name but rolled his eyes and tried not to let on just how happy he was to have his mother with him.  

 

***

 

“Keith, what is that?”

Keith stopped halfway into the pool as he looked back at his mother.  He wasn’t sure what she was concerned about, but he could hear the worry in her voice as plain as he could see the marking on her face.

“What?” he asked.

It was a small stop on their mission, a few days before they had to meet a contact.  Keith had heard about the Bathing Pools of Atswahana too often to pass up a chance to enjoy the warm waters.  He didn’t know how good a swimmer his mother was, but she’d seemed pleased with the idea so she must at least be able to keep afloat.

“Your back,” she whispered the words and Keith realized that in the past three years she’d never see it.  He always dressed in his Blade uniform or in casual clothes that covered the mark.  He’d been teased too often when he was younger about the strangeness of the design on his skin.  

“My soulmark?” he asked.  “I don’t really know anything about it.  The Blade said it was there when I joined them, but I didn’t realize I had it until a year later.  I don’t know when I got it.”

“Do you know what language this is?” she asked.

Keith shrugged.  His soulmark was a majestic lion’s head with an Earth flower below.  Strange lettering trailed underneath it but no one had been able to decipher it or tell him anything about it.  “No one knows.”

“It’s an earth language, not one I know but I recognize the letters.  Japanese, I believe.”

Keith frowned.  “But I’ve never been to Japan.”

“No, but apparently your soulmate has.”

“So, I didn’t have this when you were with us?” Keith asked.  

They didn’t talk about her time on Earth often.  They had little enough time together that they left their mutual grief alone.  After their initial meeting, Kolivan had done his best to keep her at the base.  After six months though, a mission had come up and he had needed to send her undercover again.  Keith had been left to Ulaz and Kolivan’s care again.  It had been a hard good-bye, but Keith had learned how to let her go, and their subsequent visits weren’t marked with the dramatics of that one exit. 

“Not everyone gets a soulmark, Keith.  Some races don’t.  I wasn’t sure if you would,” she said softly as she came closer.  He could see the question in her eyes, and he smiled.

“You can touch it,” he said.

She reached a hand out towards him and Keith felt warmed by her touch, as if the soulmark was connecting with another person who would love him no matter what.  

“It’s beautiful.  The flowers are the lotus flower.  This mark is stunning, Keith.”

“So how do you know someone is your mate if you can’t see their matching mark?” Keith asked.

She smiled and she took his hand and pulled him down into the warm waters of the pool.  The Bathing Pools of Atswahana were healing and just being in the water seemed to rejuvenate him.  He felt a flush of contentment and well-being that was far deeper than any bath had any right to make him feel.

“You know,” Krolia remarked unhelpfully.  Not that Keith planned to return to Earth.  Ever. 

“How did you know Dad—”

“I didn’t, at first.  I admit, I missed the signs and thought it was attraction based on the situation.  I was stranded on a planet full of humans, and he was the only person I had to talk to.  It seemed pretty simple.  But when he touched my mark, I felt it to the bone.  I belonged with him.  And he felt it too.  His soul recognized mine in that moment.”

It was a romantic notion, one that Keith had no time to contemplate, but it was comforting to know his father had that sort of love in his life.  

“You’re sure you don’t remember when this happened?” Krolia asked, pointing to his back.  

“You’d think I’d remember something that painful happening to me,” he said.

“Yes, it is painful.  And if you had it before you were eight … perhaps you got it after I left and you were too young to remember.  I can’t believe your father wouldn’t have found your soulmate though.”

“Maybe he knew, but if he did, he took it to his grave,” Keith commented.  

She frowned at him, but she always did when he spoke of his father’s death.  The Galra were extremely dedicated to their soulmates.  Ulaz had used the word protective, while Antok has whispered “obsessive” in Keith’s ear.  Antok was another half-breed like Keith, but he’d never gotten a mark.  He believed he wasn’t Galra enough.  Keith was holding out on him meeting his mate and getting hit so hard by it that he never recovered.  Then he could laugh at the bigger Galra who had always laughed at Keith’s mistakes, even while he helped him train with Ulaz.

“Don’t worry so much, Krolia,” Keith said.  “If it’s meant to be then it will be, right?  For now, let’s just enjoy the swim.”

Krolia’s smile was devilish.  “Race you to the other side.”  She took off before Keith knew she was going.  It wasn’t quite like training, but he knew her well enough to know she was testing his abilities.  At least this way was fun.  He dove after her and started a game of water tag that only ended when they’d both gotten too hungry to stay in the water any longer.

 

***

 

“I don’t like this, at all.”  

“Then I supposed it’s a good thing I didn’t ask you, Yurak,” Kolivan answered.  

Keith was still reeling.  The death of Ulaz, the man who had been like a father to him since his own father’s passing, had hardened him in a lot of ways.  He was too angry and too wild.  He took risks he shouldn’t and made snap judgments.  At least that’s what everyone said.  Keith didn’t see it.  He made the same decisions he always had.  And now, he was being asked to work side by side with the team that had ended Ulaz’s life.

“You’re only doing this because I’m part-human,” Keith accused.  He didn’t hate humans, but he refused to let them get him killed the way they had Ulaz.  Keith had better things to do than die for a group of people who didn’t seem to know what the hell they were doing.  

“I’m sending you as a liaison to Voltron because I need someone who thinks fast on his feet, is skilled in combat, knows how to strategize, and can be useful in aiding the Blade with the only ally we’ve ever found.  One who happens to be the strongest ally we could ever have hoped for.  The fact is that they have Alteans on the ship and we are Galra, so that makes it difficult.  I trust in the training that Ulaz and Krolia have given you over the years.  Should I doubt them?”

Keith glared at Kolivan and crossed his arms over his chest.  “Fine.  But I’m not taking the mask off.  Just because my father was human doesn’t mean I want them to think of me as some kind of lost puppy.”

Kolivan nodded.  “See.  You’re already better suited at this than most of us.  Someone used the same metaphor the other day, and I had no idea what a puppy was.  You at least understand the slang and lingo they use.”

Keith sighed.  “I’ll do the job, but I’ll do it _my_ way.”

“I would expect no less, young Yurak.”

“I’m not so young anymore, Kolivan,” he reminded him.  

“You’re only 19.  That is young for a warrior of your ability, even among the Galra.  And I am ancient.  To me everyone is young.”

Keith shook his head and smiled.  “Right.  I’ve seen you fight, oh Ancient One.  I bet you could still kick the ass of every member of that team.”

“Maybe,” Kolivan said, tilting his head to the side as if he was considering.  “Maybe not.  Watch out for their leader, the Black Paladin.  He was one of Zarkon’s prisoners.  The one they called the Champion.”

“Really?  I’ve heard stories about him all the way to the Farenian Zone.”

Kolivan nodded.  “He wields a prosthetic arm, courtesy of his time in the arena.  He is a strong fighter and a good leader.  You will be under his command now, but still reporting back to me.  I trust you to follow his direction as you would mine unless it directly compromises the Blade.”

“Of course,” Keith said with a slight bow of the head.

“Then we should get this introduction over with.”

Keith nodded as he placed the mask on his face.  He wouldn’t let them know he was human.  They’d see he was small for a Galra, but they wouldn’t know why.  He could always just tell them he was a half-breed and they’d probably leave it alone.  Most creatures did.

Kolivan led him off the shuttle where they were met by the Alteans.  

“Princess Allura, Coran, this is Yurak.  Princess Allura is a member of Voltron.  She is the pilot of the Blue Lion,” Kolivan said and turned to Allura then.  “Yurak will be leading the members of the Blade that we are leaving with you on the Castle of Lions.”

Keith bowed slightly to the Princess.  She was an attractive woman, which he already knew from Regris’ report.  Keith had already had a conversation with him about not letting personal feelings interfere with a mission, especially when diplomacy was far harder than battles.  

“Did Kozak, Canzana, and Matrof arrive on time?” Keith asked in way of greeting.

“They did,” Coran said.  “They were settling into their quarters and were going to meet with Regris before you arrived.”

Keith nodded.  “Thank you.”

“Shall we take you to meet the rest of the team?” Allura asked.

“I would be honored,” Keith said.

She seemed surprised at the niceties but he’d been raised human for the first eight years, and he’d learned that his human manners worked far better for diplomacy than straight forward Galra words did.  

She led them through the bay and pointed out various branches in the hallways where amenities could be found.  Keith would have to study it thoroughly tonight to make sure he knew the way.

When they reached the main control room, Keith was prepared for something utilitarian, but as the door opened, there was beauty, an elegance to the design even here.  The maker of the Castle of Lions had been truly gifted. 

He was about to say so when the team stepped forward, and Keith was struck dumb.  

Four of them approached, but Keith only had eyes for the man in the center.  He had gray eyes and dark hair, but with a shock of white on top that looked soft enough to run his fingers through.  He had broad shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist and long legs that went a mile. 

“Yurak,” Kolivan brought him out of his thoughts as he began the introductions.  “These are the Paladins of Voltron.”

“Pidge,” the girl to the left of the beautiful man said.  “I fly the Green Lion.”

“I’m Lance,” the guy to the right of Beautiful said.  “I’m the Red Lion.”

“I’m the leg,” the big guy at the end said.  “I mean, the Yellow Lion.  Hunk.”

Beautiful took a step closer and offered his hand.  It was an uncommon gesture.  In a universe full of greetings, physical contact wasn’t usually initiated at a first meeting, but humans, Keith had found, were odd in a number of ways.  

He took Beautiful’s hand in his own and shook.

“I’m Takashi Shirogane, or Shiro as everyone calls me.  I’m the Paladin of the Black Lion and the leader of Voltron.”

Keith withdrew his hand and found his voice.  “I am Yurak, at your command, Voltron Leader.”

Beautiful… or… Shiro smiled.  “Thank you.  We’re looking forward to working with you and your men.  I understand you’ve just come from a mission.  Why don’t we let you get settled into your quarters?  We can meet in the morning to start discussing how best we can use you and your men to help Voltron, and how Voltron can help the Blade.”

Keith nodded.  “My men and I are at your service.”

Kolivan stepped forward then and clasped hands with Shiro.  A few minutes of small talk between them gave Keith the opportunity to watch the others.  The one called Pidge was the youngest, but he judged the others to be close to his own age.  Pidge and Hunk were talking science, and that was something Keith didn’t understand so he tuned them out, except to note the happy back and forth between them and their comrades.  Lance was an attractive man who seemed more interested in attracting good-natured attention than anything more devious.  Hunk was smiling at all of them, and it put Keith at ease more than he liked to think about.

Then there was Shiro.  A few years older than them, surely.  He was self-assured and poised, a leader of men, confident in his place.  It was a quality that Keith had never found attractive before, but Shiro wore authority on his shoulders like most men threw on a jacket.  

“Let me show you to your quarters,” Shiro came over to Keith, and he realized he’d missed a little of the conversation in his contemplation of the others.  He’d have to make sure not to get caught out like that again.

“Thank you,” Keith said.  “It’s been a long day.”

Shiro smiled.  “I hear you.  I’d be nice to take a vacation from all this saving the world business.”

Keith smiled in return, though Shiro wouldn’t be able to see it through the mask.  The walk was punctuated with more directions.  Keith didn’t know whether it was some skill Shiro possessed, or if it was something else, but he felt he could navigate the castle better with Shiro’s guidance.

When they reached the door, Shiro had Keith take off his glove and place his hand on the door panel.  “You only have to do it once.  It’ll open when you get close now.”

He was relieved that Shiro hadn’t noticed the plain color of his skin, or that he hadn’t commented if he had.  Keith didn’t know him well enough to know which it was.

“Your men are in these four rooms here,” Shiro said, pointing to the other rooms.  “If you need anything else, just give me a call.”

“Thank you, Shiro.”

Shiro smiled again.  “Any time. You and I are going to be working together a lot.  Don’t feel like you need to stand on protocol.  The Castle is yours to explore, and feel free to seek us out if you’d like.”

“Thank you.  I’m sure we’ll be fine.  For now, I think I’ll scrub off some of the dirt from the road and speak with my men.  We’ll meet with you back at the conference room in the morning.”

The door closed behind him, and Keith let out a long sigh.  This could be bad.  He’d been teasing Regris about his infatuation with a member of the team.  Now, Keith was no better.  He just needed to keep Regris from realizing it.

For now, he pulled off his mask and set his bag on the bed.  It was a sparse place, but it was his.  In time, he could make his mark on the room.  There was no time limit on this assignment and Keith could see that the work ahead of them would cost them years.

As he pulled off his Blade uniform and prepared to test out the shower in his room, he realized he could be in a lot worse places.  

In the morning, he’d try to remember to tell Kolivan that.

 

***

 

Keith was careful to keep his distance.  

At first, he was still bitter that Ulaz had given his life to save the Paladins of Voltron, but he eventually came to see the value of the team and of having an icon like Voltron as an ally.  He learned to see that Ulaz hadn’t died in some vain hope of making a difference.  With their support, they just might be able to start freeing people of the Galra rule instead of continuing to work so dark in the shadows that they weren’t even a whisper.

He still couldn’t let himself relax around them though.  He didn’t know how to explain it, but they made him uneasy.  Maybe it was because he left humanity behind a long time ago.  Maybe it was because the team was too informal and a bit chaotic, and there was no real discipline.  

Or maybe it was because of Shiro.  Shiro made him feel at ease in ways that Keith didn’t like and made him tongue-tied at times when he needed to be able to keep his wits.  

Keith would never stop his team from spending time with the others, but Keith couldn’t.  He went to the first couple informal get-togethers Hunk organized when the tension between the Alteans and his team were still high, but it hadn’t taken long for them all to see they were on the same side.  

After that, he stopped going with them.  His team understood.  They didn’t have a problem showing their faces to the Paladins, but Keith refused.  He might be human, but he wasn’t one of them.  He hadn’t been since he’d left Earth behind all those years ago, with no ties to keep him there.  

The only regret he’d ever had was that he never knew if the young man who had pulled him from the fire had looked for him,  that he’d never had the chance to say thank you.

Krolia had tried to talk to him about returning to Earth at some point to seek the maker of his soulmark, but Keith had no desire to find his soulmate.  Krolia said he’d always feel empty, always be wanting, until he found that person. Keith thought maybe he was too human for that.  There was no ache to be with someone else.  Keith was content to be where he was, with his team to back him up.

That didn’t mean he didn’t have rough nights though.  Tonight was one of them.  He’d woken with the taste of smoke in his mouth and the remembered burn of his back.  He wouldn’t be able to sleep until he worked the adrenaline out of his system, so he dressed quickly in his suit and put his mask on before he left his quarters and headed towards the training deck.

He slipped in quietly, but almost as soon as the door opened he realized it was already in use.  He should have stepped back out as soon as he saw the Black Paladin was using the room.  Keith froze though.  He’d been into battle with the Black Paladin.  He had never been able to watch him.

Takashi Shirogane was elegant.  Every movement against the sentinel was graceful, but with an efficiency of movement that Keith had never seen outside of the most polished fighters of the Blade.  He destroyed one sentinel with the slash of his metal hand, then moved on to one of the other three that still fought him. 

Keith remembered Kolivan’s warning that this man had been the Galra’s Champion, the only non-Galra species to survive long enough to attain that title.  He had seen the way Shiro thought, the way he led his team, and he could believe that the same mind had survived in the arena.  Until now, he had never attributed it to the man’s fighting ability.  This was a fighter.  He had both the strength of body and the determination to fight for what he believed in.

He didn’t know what the other man was doing there so late, but he felt like he was intruding on something.  He couldn’t seem to look away though.

The second sentinel fell after Shiro kicked it across the room with enough force that it shorted out.  The third and fourth circled him, and Shiro seemed to gather himself for a moment before he struck out.  He didn’t engage his Galra-tech, but each strike was deliberate and well placed, meant to throw his opponent off-balance and reeling backward.  As soon as the sentinel fell to one knee, Shiro turned to the other that was still behind him.  The purple haze glowed around his arm when he engaged, and he punched it in the chest.  He didn’t hesitate as he spun and knelt to deliver the same blow to the sentinel that hadn’t been able to get to its feet yet.

The sentinels had been set to turn off if they received a killing blow and it spoke to the amount of force Shiro held that he was able to take them out that way.  

Shiro stood slowly and took a few deep breaths, and that’s when he turned.  Keith nearly flinched when Shiro’s hardened gaze fell on him, but Keith saw recognition in his eyes a second later and the other man let out a small huff before he smiled.  

“Yurak, I didn’t hear you come in.”

Keith hadn’t planned on being caught, but now he was.  “Sorry.  I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Not at all.  Did you need me for something, or were you just looking to blow off some steam?”

“I was just walking past and heard someone in the training room,” Keith lied.  He wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to admit to the other man that he’d come to spar, but after seeing Shiro move, Keith had other needs than sparring to take care of.  “I was just checking to see that everything was okay.”

Shiro nodded.  “Sorry to disrupt your walk.  I’m fine.  I just …” he glanced away.  “I have a hard time sleeping sometimes.  Sparring helps.”

Keith nodded.  “I understand.”

“You do?” Shiro asked.

Keith wasn’t sure what to say to that.  “We’re warriors,” he said slowly.  “Most of us have something that keeps us up at night.”

Shiro gave a small huff of a laugh and Keith wanted to taste the breath, but he cleared his throat and took a step back towards the door.  “I’ll leave you to it.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Shiro said.  “I’m done.”

Keith nodded.  “I think it’s time for me to return to my quarters, then.”

“Alright.  Good night, Yurak.”

Keith paused in his turn and then continued on anyway.  He hoped Shiro didn’t notice the hesitation, but he had little faith in that.  Still, the other man didn’t call him back.

It had been eleven years since he’d left Earth behind.  It had been eleven years since someone had wished him a good night.  

He was grateful for the mask tonight since it hid the pain he was sure was on his face as memories of his father surfaced, along with the nightmare he’d hoped to work off.

With the training room out of the question, Keith took off down the halls of the castle.  He ran from the memories instead.

 

***

 

Shiro didn’t say anything about the late-night wandering when they saw each other the next day.  Keith would bet he didn’t want the others to know he’d been up late and Keith was more than happy to keep the incident between them.  If Regris found out Keith had been out as well, he’d have known why he was up, and he would have pestered him all day.  Keith could do without the mother-henning.  

It wasn’t even two weeks later when Keith finished his own sparring session to find Shiro leaning against the wall, a small smile on his face.  “Fancy meeting you here,” Shiro said. 

Keith could see there were dark circles under his eyes and thought that there must have been a few more restless nights since their last meeting.  “I’m sorry.  Do you need the space?” Keith asked quickly. 

“No, watching you fight was actually kinda calming,” Shiro said.  

Keith understood.  When he’d watched Shiro, it had been easy to forget his thoughts and get lost in the movement in front of his eyes.  “Bad night?”

Shiro nodded.  “Not the best.”

“I should give you the space then,” Keith said as he started to clean up the training room.

“Yurak, you don’t have to go.  I was the one interrupting.”

“This is your ship,” Keith said with a sigh.  He didn’t know why no one seemed to remember that.  Keith didn’t have a problem with that, but he’d always been very aware that he lived by the grace of others.  If Ulaz hadn’t taken him in, he’d probably have ended up as some mouthy street rat back on Earth.  When he came to the Blade, he had been in constant fear that they’d get rid of him if he failed.  He was just too different from the others.  He hadn’t known how to fit in, and he was too traumatized at the time to realize that there were a lot of Blade members like him; half-breeds who didn’t fit the Galra standard.

“This is your home,” Shiro said.  “You and the others, this is your home now.  I know you don’t feel that way yet, but I want you to.”

Keith let out a deep breath.  “I appreciate that you’ve given us a place here.”

Shiro shook his head.  “Yurak, we’re working together.  You have a good team, and they seem to be adjusting well here.  You’re the one I worry about.  You rarely spend time with us, outside of talking about our rebellion against Zarkon.  I don’t know the first thing about you.”

He was surprised by the concern.  “I’m a member of the Blade of Marmora.  I lead a team of five half-breeds and Kolivan ordered us here to help you.” He frowned.  “What else is there to know?”

Shiro raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck.  “Anything?” he asked.  “What do you do for fun?”

“Spar.”

Shiro seemed to be waiting for Keith to say something else, but there was nothing more to say.  He’d spent years becoming the best fighter he could.  That was all he did in his free time.

“Okay,” Shiro said with a grin.  “What’s your favorite color?”

“Um, black?”

“Come on, Yurak,” Shiro playfully begged.  “You have to give me something more here.  Okay, we’ll start like this,” he said as he took a seat on the training room mat.  He looked up at Keith expectantly.  Keith knew he should leave, but he was curious about what Shiro wanted from him. 

“Okay.”

“You know my name is Takashi Shirogane and that I’m the Black Paladin.  Everyone calls me Shiro.  Back on Earth, I used to ride motorbikes and hovercrafts for fun.”

“What do you do now?”

Shiro let out a deep breath.  “I guess I don’t get to do much for fun these days.  To blow off steam I …” He shook his head and smiled a little.  “I spar.”

Keith nodded.  “It’s a good use of time.  I’ve been reviewing the performance profiles of our past missions and what I could find of yours.  It doesn’t leave much time for … fun.”

“Our missions?”

Keith nodded.  “Of course.  Kolivan has a great deal of faith in you and your team, but I wouldn’t be much of a leader if I went into this without knowing as much as I could about you and the other Paladins.”

“Wow, Yurak. That almost sounds like you want to get to know me.”

Keith frowned.  “We have to be able to work well together.  Knowing your strengths and weaknesses so I can augment your team is a part of that.”

Shiro nodded.  “I agree.” 

Shiro crossed his arms over his chest. Keith realized exactly what he said, and he sighed.  “Fine.  My favorite colors are red and black.  I’m actually the youngest member of my team, though I have been with the Blade longer than any of them.  I was raised by the Blade.”

“Wow.  The Blade doesn’t really seem family friendly.”

“They were good to me,” Keith said quietly.

“My mother died when I was younger,” Shiro confessed.  

Keith didn’t know what to say to that.  He hadn’t expected Shiro to offer any personal information.  Keith’s story was well known among the Blade.  It wasn’t like he’d shared anything truly private.

“My father and I didn’t get along,” Shiro said.  “As soon as he could, he shipped me off to a boarding school.  I guess the upside was that when I realized I wanted to be a pilot, he had the power and money to send me where I wanted to go, even if I was the youngest cadet in the Garrison.”

“Did you get to fly?”

Shiro smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing Keith had ever seen.  

“I did.  I flew the fastest aircraft we had.  For my people, I went the farthest into space as we had ever gone.  That was before we knew about the Galra and the Lions.”

“Did you do anything besides fly?” Keith asked.  

“I dated.  Or tried to,” Shiro said with a sigh.  “I wasn’t too good at it.  I’ll admit, I was a bit of a workaholic.  It’s hard to meet a nice guy when you’re buried in a flight simulator all the time.”

“You could take your date into a flight simulator with you,” Keith offered.

Shiro laughed.  “I guess I could have.  I never really thought about it.”

“Too bad there isn’t a simulator in the Castle.”

“Not sure I have any more time for dating now than I did back at the Garrison.”

Keith wasn’t sure what to say to that.  He’d never really thought about things like dating.  It seemed like a silly thing to do when he was fighting for the world.  Not only that, but Krolia believed he’d never find anyone suitable, not until he returned to Earth.  His mate was there somewhere.  No use in dating when he’d never be able to settle anyway.

“The Blade doesn’t have time for that sort of thing.”

“Surely there are some families in the Blade?  People who have something else to live for?”

Keith thought about his father, dead on a distant planet for a complete stranger, and his mother on an undercover mission a galaxy away.  “We have a cause,” he said firmly.  “We are each other’s family.  That’s enough.”

Keith got up from the floor and made his way to the door.  He wasn’t sure why he’d stayed in the first place.  These late night meetings with Shiro made him feel at ease, at first, but they always left him feeling uncomfortable by the end.  

He had a foot out the door when he heard Shiro’s voice, “Good night, Yurak.”

He didn’t stop.  He didn’t fall asleep that night either.  

 

***

 

It became a fairly regular occurrence.  Some nights Keith woke, drenched in sweat with a need to work off the nightmares.  He’d get to the training room and call up the sentinels.  He’d fight until his opponents were destroyed.  Some nights he knew when Shiro came in, but others he was too lost in the battle, and Shiro was damn good at being quiet for someone of his size.

He could be a Blade if he had any Galra blood in him.  

On those nights, Shiro sat on the floor next to the wall and just watched.  When Keith was done, he’d sit down beside Shiro.  Sometimes Shiro would try to talk to him.  He’d ask simple questions, and Keith would answer.  Keith kept his distance from the others still, but he let himself have these little moments with the Black Paladin.

Some nights, Keith spent his time in the room alone.

Others, Keith arrived when Shiro was already sparring.  On those nights, it was Keith who sat on the floor against the wall and watched as Shiro danced a circle of death around the sentinel.  When Shiro was done, he would slide down the wall next to Keith and wait.  Keith didn’t always feel like talking on those nights, and Shiro seemed too tired to make small talk.  

Some nights the silence became too much, and Keith would share little bits of himself—places he’d been and seen, missions he’d completed.  Nothing personal, but something he thought the other man would appreciate.

It wasn’t a friendship, but they were comrades, and Keith felt that their working relationship had improved as well.  They had been going on small missions together in the two months since they’d joined the crew, they had meetings frequently, and Shiro had asked Keith to review the Paladin’s performance to help them with their training.

The rest of the team seemed to sense their new level of comfort, and it translated into their interactions as well.  They took meals together and trained together.  Keith would find Regris and Pidge at a console going over tech.   Kozak spent a lot of time with Hunk and Coran, going over the specs of the medical equipment, or different features of the castle.  Canza and Lance had a shared interest in sharp shooting and trying to win hearts.  Matrof had become obsessed with Altean history and was constantly following Allura and Coran around asking for more details, or more sources.  Thankfully for all involved, there was a large library, and Matrof had taken on the task of learning Altean so he could read the books there.  

The alliance between the Blade and the Paladins was doing well.  Kolivan was happy with their developing relationship, and Keith’s team was happy on the Castle of Lions.

If Keith felt a little uneasy with just how often he and Shiro found each other late at night, he ignored it.

 

***

 

“What the hell was that?” Keith demanded.

The headpiece he wore in his suit was crackling.  Something was interfering with his team’s communications, and that was never a good sign.  

“Shiro, can you get ahold of the Paladins?”

“Lance?” Shiro asked immediately.  “What’s going on down there?”

They had come to Wantabu to rescue the planet’s leaders and get them to safety until they could remove the occupation forces the Galra had left.  Nothing was going as planned. 

“The Galra are blocking the Blade’s communications, but ours seem to be working fine,” Lance answered.  “Good thing we teamed up on this one.”

“Good to hear it,” Shiro replied.  “Give me a head count, Paladins.”

Keith had leaned closer to Shiro as soon as he’d heard Lance’s voice and he listened as each of the Paladins accounted for themselves and their Blade partners.  Keith would breathe easy, except they were in trouble themselves.

“Allura here,” the Blue Paladin breathed heavily into the headpiece.  She must have been running hard.  Or fighting.  Kozak had gone with her in case the Parliament Leaders needed a medic.  He was good with hand to hand combat—all of Keith’s team excelled in it, or he didn’t let them in the field—so he had faith that they’d get out okay.  “We have all seven members of the Parliament Board.”

“Shiro,” Pidge’s voice came in next.  “They seem to have picked up on us somehow, but they’re behind us.  Our exit strategy is still good.”

“Alright, everyone get out of here,” Shiro ordered.  “Paladins, keep an extra eye on the Blade since their communications are out.  Let me know when you’re airborne.” He looked at Keith.  “Did you get all of that?”

Keith nodded.  “We worried that they would expect us here.  I’m just glad we’re faster than their detectors.”

Shiro smiled.  “Let’s head out, then.  We have the longest path on foot.”

They took off at a jog and Shiro wasn’t kidding.  As the largest of the Voltron Lions, the Black Lion had been the hardest to hide.  The others had called out their clearance one by one until the last had been gone fifteen minutes.

Keith sighed as he looked up at the sky.  “The patrols are increasing.”

“Yeah, you noticed that too?”

Keith gave him a glare, but with the mask on it really wasn’t as impressive as it should have been.  “I don’t know if we can get out unseen,” he said. “If we get caught right now, we’ll have their whole fleet on our backs.  The point was to get away before they could follow us.”

“I think we need to hold up a little longer, wait for the search to move away from the skies.  Black has a cloaking shield that’ll keep them from finding him, but I can’t engage it while taking off.  We need to wait until we have a little breathing room.”

Keith nodded.  “You’ll have them let my team know?”

Shiro smiled.  “You’re worried about Regris, aren’t you?”

Keith rolled his eyes, even though Shiro couldn’t see the expression.  He found himself doing that more and more lately.  “The less chance I give him to worry, the less l have to reprimand him for it.  I’m tired of the argument.”

Shiro laughed and passed on the message to the teams.  Pidge—and Regris—offered to come back to help them, but they were quickly vetoed.  

They got back to Black a few minutes after that and Shiro let out a deep sigh as he entered the Lion and reengaged the cloaking shield.  

Shiro reached up and took off his helmet. He hit a few buttons that Keith knew would turn communications on inside the Lion, rather than to his helmet.  Keith had flown enough missions to know the basics in case of an emergency, though he doubted the black beast would let him near the controls if something happened to Shiro.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure if he’d forgive himself either.

Thirty minutes passed, and they were both relaxed enough to let the Lion keep watch for them.  Shiro stretched his arms over his head as he got out of the pilot’s seat and Keith was grateful, once again, for the mask that covered his face.  He was pretty sure he was drooling. 

“Might as well get comfortable,” Shiro said.  “They’ll continue running those air patterns for most of the night if your information was correct.”

He slowly stripped away each part of this armor.  Keith sat there, trying not to stare but unable to look away.  When Shiro was done, he was left in a black body suit that was even more form-fitting than the one the Blades wore.  It was indecent, except on Shiro it looked amazing.  There was very little left to the imagination and Keith did not need that kind of help.

“You can make yourself comfortable too, you know?” Shiro said.  

Keith stared at Shiro for a long time before Shiro turned away and went back to the pilot’s seat.  “Suit yourself,” he said softly.  It was the disappointment in his voice that finally did it.  This wasn’t about Shiro trying to get a look at him.  This was Shiro offering hospitality and trust, and feeling that Keith had once again turned him away for it.

And no matter what Keith felt about anything else, he trusted Shiro with his life.  With the life of his men.

It had been six months since they’d come aboard the Castle of Lions.  It was time.  Unless he wanted to impact his relationship with Shiro in a negative way, he needed to do this.

He let out a deep breath, took off his gloves, then removed the faceplate.  He breathed in the fresher air, then pushed the hood off his head. 

“Sorry,” Keith said.  “It’s just been a long time since someone new has looked at me.”

He felt more vulnerable than he had in years.  It was true though.  He didn’t wear his mask inside the Blade hiding places and bases, but he always wore one when he was out on missions.  Except for random strangers on the rare outing, Krolia had been the last person of concern that he’d shown himself too.

Shiro turned at the sound of his voice without the filter, and his eyes widened instantly.  Whatever he had been expecting, it was obviously not this.

“You’re human,” Shiro whispered in shock.

“I’m Galra,” Keith corrected quickly.  

“I’m sorry.  I knew you were of a mixed race, but I didn’t know that one part of that was human, Yurak.”

“On my father’s side,” he replied.  “He died on Earth a long time ago.  The Blade took me in afterward, but you already know all that.” Keith shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter.  I was small for a human, and I’m smaller for a Galra.  I can still kick anyone’s ass who gives me a hard time about it, though.”

Shiro smiled.  “I’ve seen that first hand.”

Keith felt something in him relax a little when Shiro gave him the same sort of smile he always had.  “We should grab some food while we’re waiting,” he said.  “You’re right in front of the rations compartment.”

Keith pulled out two meals.  Hunk had been working with Regris, Kozak, and Pidge on the new provisions.  They were the most edible rations Keith had ever had.  If Hunk ever left Voltron to be a chef, Keith would follow just to keep eating his food.  

Shiro grabbed water from a compartment behind him, and they sat on the floor, legs stretched out together, and ate.

“Do you mind if I ask?”

Keith gave a little huff then shook his head.  He knew as soon as they found out he was human that they’d all have questions for him.

“How long ago was it?”

“Eleven years,” he answered quietly.  “My mother is a member of the Blade.  The day after my father died the Blade took me from Earth so she could raise me.”

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said.  “That must have been hard.  You lost your father, and then the Blade took you away from everything you knew the very next day.”

“The Blade was great.  My Dad was all I had on Earth, so I wasn’t leaving anything behind.”  He felt a slight twinge of guilt at that, but he always felt it when he thought about that night.  Keith still wondered if the guy who pulled him from the fire had come looking for him.  He deserved a thank you, at least.  “Besides, I started training right away, and it kept my mind off that.  And then when Krolia was done with her mission, I was able to meet her.”

“It must have been something,” Shiro said softly.  “To reunite with your Mom like that.”

“Yeah, well, I was with the Blade for about four years by then.  I’d been working hard to make her proud of me, so it was really intense, but Krolia is amazing.”

“I hope we get the chance to meet her someday,” Shiro said.

Keith looked over at him because there was something off about the statement.  When Shiro caught his questioning look, he smiled.  “Sorry,” he said  “I was just thinking. You didn’t really get a chance to grow up around humans.  You missed out on all the things we did for fun.  The typical kid stuff.”

Keith shrugged.  “Yeah, but I got to see the universe and fly through space with the Blade.  It was a pretty cool trade-off.”

Shiro gave him a weak smile, but Keith could see he didn’t believe it.  

That was fine because Keith had loved being a member of the Blade and being able to do the things he did.  That didn’t mean he hadn’t spent a lot of time keeping anyone from seeing how much he longed for the things he’d never got to do back on Earth.     

 

***

 

He didn’t realize what was happening at first. 

They were at the harvest festival of the Batatsu people when Shiro suggested they all stay and enjoy the day.  The team wasn’t there to protect anyone or perform some service.  It had been an open invitation for them and their guests, and they happened to be in the area, so Shiro had accepted.  

Shiro pulled Keith aside when the others went off together. He shoved Keith into the Black Lion with a bag and told him to change.  The bag had clothes that didn’t belong to Keith but fit him fairly well.  He ended up in black pants, a black t-shirt, and a red and white jacket. There were also a pair of boots in the bag.  Keith wasn’t sure how Shiro knew his sizes, or where he’d gone to get all this, and he decided that he didn’t want to know. 

It was more a question of why Shiro had done it that made him wonder.  And the answer to that was why he was dressed, his blade tucked away from sight just in case, heading back out of the Lion and towards Shiro.

“So, what are we doing?” Keith asked.

“We’re just enjoying the festival,” Shiro said with a smile.  “We all need a little time off.  As a team leader, you know that.  You encouraged your people to have fun today, and I did the same.”

“And what if something happens?” Keith countered.

“The Castle and the Lions have long range sensors. They should be able to warn us if something comes our way.” Shiro stopped at an intersection where food stands were set up.  Down another way, it looked like there were games of some kind.  “Come on,” he said.  “Most of the team followed Hunk towards the food.  Let’s see what sort of games they have.”

Somehow, they managed to avoid seeing the others for the entire day.  

Keith and Shiro, between them, won every game in the row, and then enjoyed a dozen different treats from stalls as they walked around.  They watched dancers and some weird sort of sporting event that neither could understand and when night came, Shiro flew them off in Black to enjoy the sunset near a ridge to the East.  

It was the first time Shiro dragged him along on a friendly expedition, but it wasn’t the last.  Pretty soon, they had become exploratory partners at all such social events.  Keith had never laughed so much in his life as he did on those days with Shiro.

Shiro seemed to understand Keith in ways that no one else ever had.  Maybe it was because they’d both been violently ripped away from their own worlds at some point in their lives.  Maybe it was because they both had a love of space and flying that seemed to overshadow every other thing.  Maybe it was because he was good at listening, and for the first time in his life Keith felt like he had a peer to talk to.

He enjoyed his time with Shiro and, although he would never admit it, he liked having the Black Paladin to himself those times.  They never saw the others, and it was quickly obvious that Shiro avoided them to help Keith keep his secret.  Keith appreciated that, though he was aware enough by now that it was only a matter of time before the mask fell and the others saw his face.  

Shiro even made having to face the Paladins without his mask seem like less of a worry and just a matter of circumstance.  They traveled the galaxy fighting for freedom, looking for people to help, and sometimes, having fun in the process.  Keith had certainly never expected anything like this when Kolivan had sent them to live in the Castle of Lions a year ago.

 

***

 

“I can’t believe you have such a competitive streak,” Keith teased Shiro as they walked out of the Black Lion.  Their latest adventure had been to compete in an alien obstacle course.  It was never meant to have creatures as small as humans, but Shiro had taken one look at the advertisement at the cosmic mall (where they’d gone to watch a movie) and demanded they sign up.  Keith had, like with every other bad idea Shiro came up with, agreed immediately.

“Hey, we won, didn’t we?” Shiro countered with a grin.  

Keith shook his head and sighed.  “And when do you think we’ll get to use that all expense paid trip to the Mud Baths of Charputskou?”

Shiro scratched at the back of his neck with his hand.  “We’ll pencil it in for the week after freedom.”

Keith laughed, but when Shiro stopped stock still beside him, he had his hand on his blade and pushed the Paladin behind him without thought.

“Who the hell is that?” Lance demanded.

The inhabitants of the Castle of Lions were standing in front of them, confusion and concern on their faces.  Keith’s own team was behind them, watching the Paladins with matching confusion.

“Who?” Shiro asked.

“The guy right in front of you?” Pidge asked.

Shiro looked at Keith, and his eyes widened.  “We forgot to have you change,” he said softly.  “I’m so sorry.”

Keith shook his head.  “It’s not a big deal.  It was only a matter of time before it happened anyway, right?”

Shiro didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, and Keith wanted to smack some sense into him.  It wasn’t Shiro’s fault, and it wasn’t like Keith’s decision to stay masked had been based on anything other than misplaced pride.  At the time, he thought Kolivan had moved him here because he was human.  Now he knew what Kolivan had done was use a unique aspect of Keith’s skill set to strengthen their union with Voltron.  It seemed silly to continue hiding from everyone. 

“Who are you?” Lance asked again.

“Knock it off, Lance,” Keith said and rolled his eyes.  “It’s me.  Yurak.”

“Yurak is Galra, right?  Am I right, guys?  I mean, I always assumed he was Galra because he’s with the Blade and he’s always in the suit, but I’ve never actually seen him.  Back me up here, guys.  Kozak?  Matrof?”

Matrof looked at Keith and nodded.  “He is Galra.  He is also Yurak.”

“What?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Keith said.  “I was raised Galra, but I’m half human.”

“That’s—what? Shiro!  You knew?” Lance demanded.

Shiro let out a deep breath.   “Not at first but once I did, it wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“That would explain why we can never find you planetside,” Allura commented.

Shiro looked a little sheepish.  “I didn’t want to avoid you, really, but I also didn’t want Yurak to have to spill his secret until he was ready.” He shrugged.  “Sorry, guys.”

“When did the Galra ever go to Earth?” Pidge asked.

Everyone looked at her and Keith sighed.  He was saved from the explanation by Shiro, who said,  “Why don’t we go someplace besides the Lion’s hangar for this conversation?”

The others filed out, and Keith’s team waited until he gave them a wave before they followed the others back towards the lounge.

“You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want,” Shiro said.  “I can fill them in on what they need to know.”

It was a nice way to avoid talking about Earth, and he appreciated the thought, but Keith had avoided the humans for too long now.  He’d kept his ties deliberately loose here, and there was no reason for it.  With the exception of Shiro, he didn’t have a personal relationship with any of them outside of his Blade team.

“It’s okay, Shiro.  Really.  I don’t mind talking to them.  And I don’t mind that they know.”

“Okay, but if you need me—”

“You’ve got my back.  I know, Voltron Leader.”

“Always, Blade Leader.”

Keith smiled at Shiro as he led the way back to the others.  They had settled on the couches of the Paladin’s lounge area, and Keith took a seat next to Shiro.  He wasn’t used to joining them there, so it was odd, but not in a bad way.  They all looked expectantly at him, even his own team.

Regris was the closest thing he had to a brother.  Regris was older than him,  but he’d come into the Blade a few years after Keith.  He’d known him before Krolia came into his life, and he’d been there to help Keith figure out how to adapt to having his mother around.  And how to cope with her exit from his life six months after.  Over the years, Regris had become as much a part of his family as Ulaz had been, or Kolivan.  He knew the story, but the rest of the team only knew bits and pieces. 

Canzana seemed almost bored about the whole thing, but Keith knew better.  Kozak was a nosy pain in the ass sometimes, and there was no hiding his curiosity.  Matrof waited patiently beside Hunk on the couch.  Matrof had the patience of a saint though, which was funny on someone who was as close to a berserker as Keith ever wanted to see, once the fighting started.

“The Galra have never been to Earth,” he started.  “My mother, Krolia, was an undercover Blade agent in the Galra Empire.  The Galra she was with happened to be out in the furthest reaches of space and picked up signals of the Blue Lion on Earth.  As a member of the Blade, she knew that she couldn’t allow Zarkon to find the Blue Lion, so she destroyed the other Galra ships, but her own ship was damaged in the fight.  She crash-landed on Earth, and my father found her.  She chose to stay on Earth to protect the Blue Lion, but eventually, someone else found it as well.  She left Earth to go back to the Galra and make sure that no one found the location of Earth and the Blue Lion.”

“So, she took you with her?” Hunk asked.

Keith shook his head.  “I was only six months old, and at least on Earth, we had a chance of never being discovered.  She didn’t want us out there on some known planet where Zarkon could someday rule.”

“So how did you join the Blade?” Pidge asked.

Shiro shuffled a little closer to bump their shoulders together, and Keith looked over to give him a small smile.  It was an old story, but it was never happily told.  Few had ever heard it.

“My father died when I was eight.  I don’t know how the Blade found out, but they showed up the next day to take me in until she could get away from her assignment.  I’ve been with them ever since.”

“How often have you been back?” Lance asked sadly.

“Back? To Earth?” Keith asked.  He had never really understood Lance, and he was at a loss to figure out why he was sad now.  “I don’t have any reason to return to Earth.”

“But you’re human,” Lance said, alarmed.  “What about your family?”

“We are his family,” Regris stepped in before Keith could say it himself.  “The Blade has always been Yurak’s family.  He is more Galra than human, no matter how he looks.”  He looked at Keith and smiled.  “Or what silly name your mother calls you.”

The rest of his team laughed at that and Keith rolled his eyes.  That Krolia refused to call him Yurak was a source of amusement for many of the Blades.  It had long ago passed from point of contention to gentle teasing between him and his mother.  

“What does she call you?” Shiro asked.

“My human name.”

“You have a human name?”

“Of course.  I was born on Earth, and I look like a human.  Did you think she would hide me among humans and leave me with an alien name?”

“What is it?” Shiso asked curiously.  

A bell rang in the lounge, and they all looked up quickly.  Coran was the first to the console, and he looked over at them.  “Incoming message from Kolivan.”

“Looks like playtime is over,” Shiro said as they all got up and headed towards the control room together.  

“Saved by the bell, Yurak,” Regris teased him.

Keith elbowed him in the ribs and grinned while the rest of his team laughed.

It was a nice reminder that even if the humans didn’t get him, his team of half-breed Galra did.

 

***

 

Things got.… weird after that.

Keith realized that all those adventures he and Shiro had been going on had been Shiro’s way of trying to give Keith the things he’d missed growing up away from Earth.  

The others tried as well, but they weren’t half as subtle nor as good at reading Keith’s interests as Shiro was.  Like the time Lance tried to make him play video games.  Keith kicked his ass at the games, but Keith didn’t find it near as interesting as Lance and Pidge.

Hunk tried to teach him how to cook Earth food, but since he didn’t have most of the ingredients he needed it had been a frustrating experience for both of them.  Keith did find that he liked the company of the big guy though. He was thoughtful, kind, insightful, and not afraid to admit his own fears, which was something Keith found not just brave, but honorable as well.

Allura and Coran didn’t treat him any differently, but he noticed that they’d occasionally watch him with sad eyes.  It felt as though they judged his childhood with the Blade to be some sort of affront to their sense of right and wrong.  He understood, in a way. It had been Keith’s own need to prove himself to his then-unknown mother that had driven the training.  Ulaz would have preferred to have him studying language and culture than fighting and strategy.  

It wasn’t bad though.  Kolivan had taken one look at Keith when they’d faced him in the control room, and he’d simply said, “It’s good to see you, Yurak,” and that had been it.  Keith knew Kolivan would never tease him over showing his face, not when Keith had struggled for so long with his identity among the Blade in his younger years, and he was glad it had been over quickly.

Despite all that, nothing really changed.  Keith spent a little more time with the Voltron team outside of work, and he was slowly building relationships there. It was still Shiro he gave most of his time to.  

Tonight, he hoped he wouldn’t run into Shiro.  The nightmares had come back again, as they always did this time of year.  The anniversary of his father’s death was just around the corner, and while Keith had never stopped having them, they haunted him often and viciously.

He needed to work out his anger and frustration tonight.  

Luckily, the training room was open, and Keith set the program on and prepared to fight.  

He had no idea how long he was there, working until sweat ran down his face and he had to wipe his hands repeatedly to keep his grip on his knife.  The sentinels went down and were replaced time and time again as he kept moving.  When the last of them went down, he was still too worked up to relax.

A long whistle made him turn, his body tense for another fight.  Shiro was at the door, clapping slowly as he looked at the sentinel remains that littered the floor around him.

“That bad, huh?” Shiro asked.

“I’m not in the mood for banter tonight, Shiro,” he said shortly.

Shiro’s eyes tightened, and Keith saw that when he moved there was an edge that was usually absent.  “I’m not either,” he said.

Keith smiled.  In all the nights they had met up in the training room, they had never once sparred against each other.  “Alright,” Keith said as he pressed a button on the wall.  The cleaning bots came forward and removed the sentinels quickly so that they had a clear space.  “Let’s do this, then.”

If he thought Shiro would take it slow, he was mistaken.  As big as he was, he was fast as well, and he came at Keith with the grace and efficiency of movement Keith had grown used to seeing.  He moved under Shiro’s punch and sidestepped around where he knew the other man was likely to follow up.

The advantage of having watched Shiro for so long was that he knew how he fought.  The problem with that was that Shiro knew how he fought as well.  There was no hard and fast winner.  Instead, it was a prolonged fight, which they both seemed to need tonight. 

Shiro never slowed though.  He was a perfect fighter.  Speed, agility, strength, and stamina all flowed through him, and he never backed down.  Once Shiro was committed to a course, he followed through with it.  He adapted and learned. 

He was amazing, and Keith had never had a harder time with an opponent.  He had been bested in fights before, but he had never met anyone who could fight like Shiro could.  He understood now how this human had been the Champion and why the witch had given him so much attention.

Keith lashed out with his left arm, and Shiro blocked it easily enough.  The force of his motion sent Keith to the mats, and he kicked out to try to knock Shiro off his feet.  Shiro dodged the move, but he came down anyway, fist to the mat as Keith barely made it clear.  Keith rolled again until he could get to his knees, but Shiro grabbed his ankle and pulled him back.   They tumbled until Shiro managed to pin him to the floor, hands gripping Keith’s wrists over his head and Shiro’s knees pressing down on Keith’s legs.

Keith’s strength, this late in the fight, was no match for Shiro’s weight and though he struggled, he couldn’t get free.

When he looked up at Shiro, his friend stared back at him.  There was something in his gaze that Keith didn’t know how to read.  He had gotten fairly good at deciphering Shiro’s moods from the way he held his eyes and the tension in his shoulders.  He knew the depth of his falsehoods, the _I’m fine_ s and the _It’s better than it looks_ by the crook of his smile when he told them.  This was new though.

Something stirred in Keith at that look though.  Heat coursed through his blood and his mouth went dry.  He licked his lips, and Shiro’s eyes followed the movement like a predator tracking prey.

And then, Shiro’s lips were on his. Keith had never been more stunned or turned on in his entire life.  

Shiro’s lips were soft against his own, warm and velvety as they caressed his.  His tongue licked between Keith’s lips, and he opened up to the Black Paladin, following his lead.  Shiro hummed over him, and Keith couldn’t help but moan as their tongues tangled together. 

Shiro let go of his hands, and his weight settled more completely over Keith. He moaned again, unable to stop the needy sound.  Shiro’s lips pulled into a smile, but Keith kissed it away until Shiro was the one moaning. 

Shiro pulled back slightly and he leaned in to press kisses against Keith’s neck.  He gripped the back of Shiro’s head, fingers curling in his dark hair, and turned his head ever so slightly to give him better access.  Shiro hummed out his approval as he continued to work his way up his neck to the place right under Keith’s ear. 

“Yurak,” Shiro whispered into his ear, and Keith closed his eyes.  

This was wrong.  Shiro didn’t even know his real name.  As much as Keith never wanted to look, he had a soulmate out there, somewhere in the universe.  And he knew, somewhere in his heart, if he did return to Earth, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from finding the young man that had kept him safe from fire and his own suicidal impulse to follow his father.  

But this felt so right.  Shiro was the desert that honed his skills, the fire Keith wanted to be engulfed by, the ocean that drowned him, and the forest that soothed him.  He was the power to be all things and the sensibility to be only one.  With his lips pressed to Keith’s he couldn’t say no, couldn’t control the need that sang through him so strongly.  

“Shiro,” he whispered in return.

Shiro pulled back enough to rest his forehead against Keith’s, a moment to breathe before they could get carried away again.

He opened his mouth, but he wasn’t sure what to say.  Right or wrong, which was this?  “I—”

The proximity alarm rang out loud and clear in the room, and both were on their feet and heading towards the control room before they could think of dealing with what had just happened.

After the crisis, Keith decided.  Whatever this was, it could wait until after the crisis.

 

***

 

They didn’t talk about it.  Keith got called away from the Castle for a mission with Kolivan that night, and it never came up.

They sparred again, the next time they were both in the training room late at night.  It ended on the mat again, with them making out for…. Keith didn’t know how long.  They had only parted when Pidge and Lance had rolled in for their morning workout.  Keith had a brief moment’s notice to their feet outside the door—thanks to his Galra hearing—and he’d pushed Shiro off and rolled away before the others could see what they’d interrupted.  

It happened again.  And again.  And again.

Each time, something interrupted them before it went any further than kissing.

Each time, Keith swore he would speak to Shiro about it.

Each time, he found himself under Shiro and responding to his touch without thought of circumstance or discipline.

It wasn’t his best decision, but Keith chose to forego the training rooms.  He couldn’t keep doing this with Shiro.  No matter how much he wanted Shiro—and the stars knew he did—he couldn’t get over the fact that he had a soulmate somewhere, and that he needed to find the young man who had saved his life that day.

The need for both made him question if they were one and the same, but he never let himself dwell on it for too long.  The universe _would_ be cruel enough to steal Keith’s life from him on the same day it gave him the other half of his soul.  

He didn’t know how to mention his soulmate to Shiro when the other man never spoke of it.  Humans had soulmates, right?  So, wouldn’t Shiro have someone waiting for him out there as well?

It was a temporary solution at best, but Keith embraced it anyway.  Every time he said he needed to talk to Shiro before this happened again, he ended up on the mat underneath him.  Until he could reconcile his own feelings, how could he talk to Shiro?

Keith started leaving meetings as soon as they ended, and he came in at the last minute.  He found reasons to turn down invitations to events and gatherings he would usually have enjoyed sharing with Shiro.  It was ridiculous, and Keith was making himself miserable.

The way Shiro looked at him when no one else was watching made him think Shiro was miserable as well.

“Castle of Lions, I have been sent by Kolivan.”

The alarms had gone off when Keith had been mid-workout, and he entered the control room in time to hear the message.

“Identify yours—”

“Krolia?”  She smiled on the screen and Keith couldn’t help but smile back.  He looked over at Allura and nodded.  “Give her clearance.”  The screen in front of them went blank when Krolia got his approval.  

“Yurak, who is she?” Shiro asked.

“Krolia, from the Blade of Marmora.”  He looked at the Voltron team and realized that Shiro was the only one who recognized her name.  “My mother.”

He didn’t wait for a response, but as he made his way towards the hangar bay, he knew they’d be following.  The ship landed quickly and just as efficiently as always.  Krolia was an amazing pilot, and Keith had tried to live up to her skill since the first time he’d seen her put a ship down.  The door opened, and she looked around curiously.  As soon as she saw him though, she came running towards him with outstretched arms. 

He smiled as he met her half-way, and said,  “Hello, Krolia.”

“It’s been a long time, Keith.  I’ve missed you,” she said softly against his ear.

“Are you well?” he asked.

She nodded.  “Spent a few days healing with the Blade before Kolivan gave me the clearance to find you.  Regris, you been taking care of my boy?” She asked over his shoulder.

Keith rolled his eyes, but he heard his friend behind him.  “Always, for you, Krolia.”

She laughed, and Keith enjoyed the sound of it for a moment.  

“You do it because Kolivan would kick your ass if you didn’t,” Krolia said.

“That too, but I fear your blade more than his if put to the test.”

“Krolia, allow me to introduce you to the Voltron team,” Keith said as he walked her over to them.  “Pidge of the green lion, Lance of the Red.  The big guy is Hunk who pilots the Yellow Lion, and Coran is an Altean ally who pilots the Castle of Lions, among everything else he does.  Princess Allura flies the Blue Lion.  And …” He nearly balked at having to introduce Shiro to his mother, but there was no way to avoid it.  “This is Shiro, the Black Paladin, and leader of the Voltron team.”

“I see,” she said with a sidewards glance at him.  He knew she’d caught his hesitation and he wanted to kick himself.  He’d deal with that later though.  “I’m pleased to meet you.  Kolivan has spoken highly of you all, and he wished me to pass along his greetings and well wishes until he can speak with you next.”

“Thank you,” Shiro said.  “I’ve heard a lot about you from Yurak.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.  Are you here on Blade business, or just a family visit?”

Krolia smiled at Shiro.  “I came to check in on my son, but Kolivan thought it might be a good idea to have more than a handful of operatives who were familiar with the team so I can kill two birds with one stone.”

“Absolutely,” Shiro said with a nod.  “We look forward to getting to know you better then.”

“Why don’t I help you find a place to settle in?” Keith offered before everyone could try to get her away from him. “Then we can catch up and join everyone for dinner?”

“Oh, I have just the recipe,” Hunk said, already heading off towards the kitchen to cook.  

“Hunk, wait, what are you making?” Matrok asked as he followed.  Kozak went with them because the two were obsessed with Hunk’s kitchen skills.  It was going to be a problem when Kolivan reassigned them eventually.  They just might refuse, leave their posts, and join Voltron just for Hunk.

Krolia looked at him in surprise, and Keith smiled.  “Don’t blame them until you try Hunk’s cooking,” he said.  “If I ever get reassigned, I’m going to abduct him.”

Krolia smiled as she grabbed a bag and Keith looked over at Coran, avoiding looking at Shiro.  “Coran?  Where’s the best place to put Krolia up?”

“There are the rooms right down the hall from your own.  I’ll have it opened and ready for her handprint before you reach it.”

“Thanks, Coran.”

“Of course.  Welcome aboard, Krolia,” Coran said as he left the room.

Keith could see the way the others wanted to talk to Krolia, but Shiro stepped up and smiled at her.  “Do you need anything before dinner?”

“No,” she said politely.  “What I’d really like is a chance to spend a few minutes with my son.”

“Of course.  Yurak, let us know if you need anything,” Shiro said.

Their eyes met, and it was a kick in the gut to see how guarded Shiro’s eyes had become.  It wasn’t Krolia’s doing, but Keith’s.  He didn’t know how to fix this, but he had to.  He wasn’t sure how much longer he could avoid Shiro, and the other man didn’t deserve this.  

At least, for tonight, he had his mother to keep him occupied and help him forget that trouble.  Until she decided to grill him about it herself, of course.

 

***

 

Dinner was amiable with Krolia joining them.  Keith’s team talked more than ever, each trying to one-up the other as they discussed what they’d been doing.  Beyond her standing with the Blade, Krolia was very liked among its members.  The fact that she was Keith’s mother and they shared a common link with her through him made it even worse.

The Voltron team took it in stride and seemed to enjoy the way the Blade team opened up under her watch.  He saw the way Shiro regarded her, even seemed to approve of the way she interacted with them.  He saw the same from the way she watched Shiro.  She didn’t know what was happening between them but try as he may, there had been no way to hide how close he’d become to Shiro once he and Krolia started to catch up.

And she saw the distance now.  He thought maybe she understood.

Dinner had finished, and they were heading into the lounge area when a random comment on Kolivan’s sternness drew a sad sigh from Krolia.  Everyone settled quickly, and they looked to her for an explanation. 

“Kolivan was far more lighthearted once,” she said, “but his soulmate was captured by the Empire on a mission, and he died.  He’s opened up a lot since I left my son to his care.” She gave Keith a small smile.  “But there are some wounds that never heal.”

“A soulmate?” Lance asked incredulously.  “That’s a real thing?”

“For the Galra, yes,” Krolia answered.  “When we meet our soulmate, a mark blossoms on our skin.  When our mate is Galra, they have a matching mark.”

“When it’s Galra?  Is it different if it isn’t?” Allura asked.  As much as she had initially hated all Galra, she had learned that there was a world of understanding to be had outside of her own experiences.  She had embraced it fully and had tried to overcome her own prejudice by learning as much as she could about the Galra.  She and Matrof had bonded over their shared desire to learn about each other’s culture.

“My husband was human.  Though humans don’t have soulmates, he was mine, and he felt it as well.  He had no mark.”

“Humans don’t have soulmates?” Keith asked quietly.

No one heard him speak though because Shiro raised his own question.  “What did he feel?”

Krolia eyed him for a moment before she spoke.  “He said that in all his relationships before me, he had always felt there was a time limit.  Like he knew that it wouldn’t last long because there was something else out there.  It wasn’t until we were together that he said he felt everything settle.  Like he had found something he had long searched for but couldn’t understand.”

“But if humans don’t have soulmates, how could he be yours?” Shiro asked again.

There was a grumble from the Blade team, but no one actually said anything.  It was rude to ask something like that, and to ask Krolia about her soulmate when she had lost him was courting trouble, but Shiro didn’t know that.

“I don’t know why it works with other species sometimes.  I am not the only Galra to have a soulmate outside of the Galra race.”

“So it’s not unheard of, but it’s not common?” Allura asked.

“Exactly,” Krolia answered.  “Keith’s soulmate is human.”

The room was quiet, and Keith could feel the stares of the Blade team.  He’d never talked to them about having a soulmate.  They didn’t understand that the marks across his back were his soulmarks.  They’d just thought he was a strange half-breed like them and believed it to be some strange personal markings he’d gotten. 

Then Lance asked the question that explained the Voltron team’s silence, “Who is Keith?”

“I am,” he said with a sigh.  “Yurak is my Galra name.  My human name is Keith.”

“Keith?” Shiro asked, and there was something wounded in his voice.  Keith looked up to see something warring behind Shiro’s eyes.  “Keith what?”

He hesitated.  He didn’t know why but he didn’t want to answer Shiro.  

“Keith Kogane,” Krolia answered into the silence.  Shiro took a step back from them as if he’d received a physical blow and then his expression shut off completely.  He didn’t say anything as he left the room.  Keith watched the long strides that carried him away, the way his shoulders were held too straight, too proud.  

“Uh… what just happened?” Hunk asked.

They were all looking at him, but Keith didn’t have an answer.  He couldn’t stop staring at the door, feeling like he should go talk to Shiro.  He wasn’t sure he could close the distance between them, and he had no idea what was wrong with Shiro.  It didn’t matter though, did it?  Keith had let his guard down around him, and the same was given in return.  No one on the ship knew Shiro the way Keith did.  He had to check on him. 

He was halfway to the door when his mother spoke again.  “Takashi Shirogane.  That’s Japanese, isn’t it?” she asked.

Keith stopped and looked back at her, though she was looking at the rest of the Voltron team.  Pidge answered,  “Yeah.  Shiro’s from Japan.  He was the youngest cadet in the history of the Garrison.  He’s a legend there.  Top pilot, unbeatable scores, and probably the nicest guy you’d ever meet.”

“The kind of guy who would run into a building and pull a stray kid from a fire?” Krolia asked, but she fixed her eyes on Keith when she asked.

Keith didn’t need to hear Pidge’s answer, so he turned and left the room.  

The words followed him out anyways,  “That’s exactly the kind of guy Shiro is.”

 

***

 

He knew where Shiro was going.  There were really only two options, and he didn’t really believe that Shiro would go to Black and take off.  He might want to distance himself from the others, but he wouldn’t leave altogether.  At least, Keith hoped he wouldn’t.  

What Krolia was implying couldn’t be true.  It couldn’t.  The universe wasn’t kind enough to give Keith the one thing he wanted more than anything.  He paused outside of the training room doors, but there were no sounds of combat. 

He was afraid to go in and face whatever Shiro was dealing with, but no matter what else was happening, Keith had come to think of Shiro as his friend.  He couldn’t walk away.  Keith took a deep breath and steeled his courage.  When he walked into the room Shiro was leaning against the far wall, his hands pressed against it, head down, and back facing Keith.

“Shiro?  What’s going on?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you?” Shiro asked.  “Which is it?  Yurak or Keith Kogane?”

“Does it really matter?”

Shiro spun around and there was anger in his eyes.  Keith had seen Shiro angry before, but never at him.  His mouth felt dry and he wanted to say something, anything, to calm Shiro down but he didn’t know what would help.

“Yes, it matters,” he bit out.  “Because Yurak is a half-Galra agent on the Castle of Lions, leader of the Blade members on my ship, and my partner in just about every damn way.  Keith Kogane was just a kid, and I promised—but, I never….”  His voice stopped, and Keith just waited.  “I promised…”

“‘I will find you, Keith Kogane,’” Keith said softly.  “‘Take care until I get there,’”

Shiro’s eyes narrowed and his fists clenched, but there were tears forming in his eyes.  “I looked.  They wouldn’t let me out of bed until later the next day, and you were just gone.  I never stopped though.  I kept looking for you.”

“The Blade,” Keith reminded him.  “I was already gone.  You could never have found me.”

“Did you ever think about going back, just to tell me you were okay?” Shiro demanded.

“I did.  I still do, sometimes.  On bad nights, I repeat the words to remind myself that someone out there might just be waiting for me.”

“I’m waiting for you, damn it!” Shiro yelled.  “I don’t care if you go by Keith or Yurak.  I’ve been right here, all along, and you just disappeared on me again!  If you don’t want me then just say it!  Don’t play games with me, Yurak.  I can’t.…” His anger seemed to be spent, and he let out a deep breath.  “I can handle a broken heart.  What I can’t handle you hiding and not telling me what’s going on.”

Keith let out a deep breath.  “Will you…. call me Keith?” he asked.  “Krolia is the only one who does.  I’d like it if you did too.”

“Why?” Shiro asked.

“Because I think, maybe, you’re my soulmate.”

“What?”

“I got my soulmark sometime before I joined the Blade.  My father never mentioned it, and when the mark appears it’s painful.  It’s not something you would miss.  If you’re…. Since you’re the boy who saved me, it makes sense.  I’ve never cared about finding my soulmate, but I thought a lot over the years about what it would be like to return to Earth to find you.”

Shiro continued to watch him, but he wasn’t saying anything.  Keith felt like maybe he was getting through to Shiro.  It was hard to read him sometimes, and his anger was slow burning.  He could very well have blown out that bit of anger before and just lit the fuse for a much longer fire.

“When I ran into the fire to get to my dad, do you remember me getting hurt at all?” Keith asked.

“You were almost hit by a falling beam in front of you, but that was when I found you.  I pulled you out of the way.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yu—Keith, I remember everything about that day.”

“Because when you grabbed me and pulled me away, I thought I was burned by the fire.  I thought it seared my back.  They told me I was fine at the hospital and I forgot about it in my grief that day.  It wasn’t until years later that I realized I had a soulmark, and by then I had no way of figuring out when it happened.  The more I thought back on it, the more I thought that was when it happened.  Regris said it made sense, what with how obsessed I was over you.”

“Obsessed?”

Keith rolled his eyes.  “I couldn’t go back to Earth.  Besides my work with the Blade, I never wanted to return to Earth.  I had nothing left back there.  My father was all the family I had, and I didn’t have friends. I was too intense.  I had a hard time relating to other kids.  I was too Galra, I guess.  But whenever someone asked, I couldn’t help but remind everyone that someone might be looking for me.”

“Keith,” Shiro sounded tired when he said his name.

“I want to show you something.  Will you come with me?”

Shiro sighed, but he nodded.  “Of course.”

Keith didn’t hesitate to lead Shiro out of the training rooms and towards their quarters.  The Paladins had a set of quarters all close together, and they had doorways into the Paladin’s lounge.  Not far from there were the rooms that Keith and his team had been given.  He just hoped no one was wandering the halls to stop them on the way.

Thankfully, the halls were clear as Keith brought Shiro to his room.  He never had anyone inside and there wasn’t anything there really.  He had a few trinkets he’d picked up on his travels with the Castle of Lions, stupid prizes he and Shiro had won together at the many festivals and tournaments they’d gone to over the last year.  There was nothing to hide, just no reason to bring anyone into his personal space.

The door closed behind them, and Keith turned to face Shiro.

“What are we doing here?” Shiro asked.

“Finding the truth,” Keith answered.  “Do you like me, Shiro?”

Shiro closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.  He let out a deep breath before he opened his eyes again.  “Very much,” he said softly.  “No matter what name you go by.”

Keith walked closer, slowly, in case Shiro wanted him to move away.  It had never been intentional like this. before.  They had been too caught in the moment, heat too much to sublimate into the fight any longer.  This was a choice and for once, Keith felt like he finally had all the pieces to understand the puzzle that had always been his feelings about Shiro.  

“Show me what you want,” Keith said as he closed the distance between them.  

He knew the sort of man Shiro was, but he didn’t expect this.  Shiro pulled him into his arms without hesitation and devoured his lips.  Even in the training room, his passion had been controlled, but there was none of that here.  

He bit and licked at Keith’s mouth until Keith opened with a moan under him.  Shiro pulled him up, and all Keith could do was wrap his legs around Shiro’s waist and drape his arms over his shoulders to keep his balance.  Shiro spun them and pinned Keith’s back to the wall and began to bite and lick at what little skin showed above the Blade uniform.

“You and this goddamned bodysuit,” Shiro swore against his ear.

Keith groaned. “Like I haven’t had to watch you in your ridiculous armor!” Keith pulled Shiro’s mouth back to his.  Shiro’s arms squeezed him tighter, and he felt the hard press of Shiro against his body.  He moaned into the kiss, and Shiro’s fingers dug into his skin.

“Bed,” Keith whispered into his mouth.  “We really need to get to the bed.”

Shiro pressed another kiss to his lips.  “I’ve been trying to get you naked for months.”

Keith let out a small huff of laughter.  “If someone calls for help right now, I’m calling in sick.”

“Same,” Shiro said as he stepped back and set Keith’s feet back on the floor.  

Keith chased his lips again, but he guided them back towards the bed.  He unzipped Shiro’s top and pushed the vest off his shoulders before he ran his fingers under the hem of his undershirt and worked it over his head.  Shiro pulled him in again, and Keith felt his fingers pulling at the closure at the back of his suit before he pulled back from the kiss. 

“Let me, first,” Keith said as he pushed Shiro back onto the bed.  

Shiro landed with a bounce, and he smiled up at Keith.  They both took the moment to kick off their boots and then Keith knelt between Shiro’s legs to undo his pants.  Keith managed to strip him before Shiro tried to return the favor.

“Let me,” Keith said again.  He undid the closures on his suit and slowly pulled it down his body.  Keith was careful not to let Shiro see the mark on the right side of his back. When he got close to the bed, Keith smiled as he grabbed Shiro’s hands and pulled him until Keith was on his back with Shiro over him.

“I wanted to look my fill,” Shiro said as he kissed Keith’s neck.  

“Fuck me first, then you can look all you want.”

Shiro’s fingers twitched from where they were intertwined between Keith’s.  “Yurak,” he hissed the name out, and Keith couldn’t care less what name he called out, just so long as it was his.

“Wanted this for so long,” Keith confessed.  “All those nights in the training deck, I never wanted that to end.”

Shiro pulled his hands from Keith’s, and one began to slowly tease its way lower on Keith’s body until he wrapped his fingers around Keith’s cock.  Shiro bit at his ear.  “Then why did you start to avoid me?” he asked.

“You didn’t know,” Keith panted against his lips as Shiro began to stroke him.  He was so worked up already.  This was so much more than he’d ever thought he could have.  If he was right, then this was his, forever.  “Shiro,” he nearly sobbed the other man’s name.  “You didn’t know my name.  You didn’t know that I needed to find him.  But I couldn’t get you out of my head either.  No matter how much I said I wouldn’t let it happen until we talked, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“You drove me crazy,” Shiro whispered.  “I couldn’t stop watching you, even with the mask on.”

Shiro stopped stroking him, and Keith felt his finger circle Keith’s entrance.  He pushed against it, letting Shiro know he wanted the same.  Shiro kissed him, but Keith could see him reaching for something beside the bed.  Slick fingers found his entrance a few minutes later, and he felt the first enter his body.

“Relax,” Shiro whispered into Keith’s ear.

Keith wasn’t a blushing virgin but he was, in fact, a virgin.  “Shiro, I haven’t…” He turned his head so his lips brushed Shiro’s.  “You’re my first,” he admitted. 

Shiro’s eyes went wide though Keith wasn’t sure why this was such a surprise to Shiro.  He knew Keith didn’t socialize much and that he’d never had anyone significant in his life.  It probably had something to do with the difference between human and Galra experiences. 

“If you stop,” he added as soon as he saw the way Shiro’s expression softened, “I’ll kill you.”

Shiro laughed against Keith’s lips.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Keith answered.  

Shiro crushed their lips together and started to slowly thrust his finger in and out of Keith.  Keith was moaning with it, and when he began to rock back into the touch, Shiro added a second finger.  Keith could feel the lube drip between his legs as Shiro pushed into him.  He was so damn tight, but he wanted Shiro so much he didn’t care if he ripped him in half to get there.  

“Fuck, Keith,” Shiro whispered into his ear, and he began a litany of words that nearly undid Keith.  “Feel so good under me.  I tried so damn hard not to want this, not to complicate things between us, but all I could see when I would watch you in the training rooms was how damn graceful you were.  How fucking perfect every move you made was.  And every time I got you under me, all I could think about was how good you felt like that, how much better you would feel if I was inside you.”

“Shiro,” he moaned his name as he felt Shiro opening him up, stretching him.  

“Will you let me see it, after?” Shiro asked.  “Will you let me look and touch my fill?”

Keith knew then that Shiro had understood, even when Keith hadn’t said it in words.  He didn’t want Shiro to see his back until this was done.  He didn’t want him to touch the mark.  If Shiro wasn’t his soulmate, he wanted this at least.  This first time with Shiro.

“After this,” Keith agreed.  “You can have me however you want.”

“Dangerous words, Blade Leader,” Shiro teased as he bit lightly at Keith’s bottom lip.

“I trust you, Voltron Leader,” he said as he pushed back onto Shiro’s fingers.  “More, Shiro, please,” he begged.

Shiro let out a deep breath, and Keith felt his fingers leave him.  A moment later they filled him again, slicked up again and with a third finger this time.  Shiro began to kiss down his body.  Keith threaded his fingers through Shiro’s hair and watched as he slid down until he had his lips wrapped around Keith’s cock.  

“Shiro!” Keith shouted his name, but Shiro just swallowed around his cock and continued to slide his fingers in and out. “Please, please, Shiro,” he begged, and he wasn’t even sure what for.  He wanted to come, he wanted Shiro inside of him, and he never wanted Shiro to stop.  “I’m gonna… Shiro …”

Shiro pulled off his cock and looked up at him.  When Keith ran his fingers through his hair and cupped his cheek, Shiro leaned into it.  “Let go, Keith,” he said softly.  “Want to taste you, just like this.  Then when you’re all relaxed and loose, I’m going to slide into you good and slow, and work you up again until you come on my cock.”

Keith dropped his head back onto the pillow as Shiro took him back into his mouth.  He was so close, and then Shiro changed the position of his fingers just slightly, and Keith shouted his name as he came down his throat.

He tried to pull away, but Shiro pressed his hips to the bed and swallowed him down as he continued to fuck his fingers into him.  Keith was sobbing with the sensation, sensitive to Shiro’s touch, but he didn’t want him to stop.  He wanted everything he could get of Shiro.

“Keith.” Shiro moved up his body, even as he kept his fingers inside of him, “I need you,” he whispered against his lips.

“Shiro, please,” he gasped.  

Shiro abruptly pulled his fingers out, and Keith felt completely empty.  He would bemoan the loss, but when he looked up at Shiro his eyes were on Keith, and his hand was on his own cock—long, hard, and dripping.  

Keith spread his legs a little wider in invitation and Shiro leaned forward to brace himself on his Galra arm as he used the other to guide himself into Keith’s body.  Keith tried not to tense, but he couldn’t help himself.  Shiro took his time, moving slowly and using his free hand to rub comforting circles into Keith’s hip.

“Breathe with me,” Shiro said softly, but Keith could hear the strain in his voice.

“Kiss me,” Keith replied. 

Shiro’s lips were on his immediately, his tongue sweeping across the swell of Keith’s bottom lip before he plunged into his mouth.  Shiro’s hips pressed in a little more, and Keith’s moan was swallowed as Shiro slid further into him. 

“Yurak,” Shiro moaned his name as he was finally sheathed all the way inside Keith’s body, “My Keith.  You feel so good around me.”   

“Shiro,” Keith was at a loss to tell Shiro what he was feeling.  It was too much.  He could feel Shiro pressed all the way inside him, the thickness of him, and he wanted to stay unbearably full forever, except he wanted more. Keith wanted to feel the thrust of Shiro’s body, the strength of him moving over him and in him. “More,” he pleaded.

“I’ll give you what you need, Keith.  Never gonna have to wonder where I am. Or if I’m looking.  I’m always looking for you Keith, always looking at you. Can’t help myself.  You’re so damn gorgeous,” Shiro said as he began to move.  “Used to dream about getting off just to your voice before I ever saw your face,” he confessed. 

“Tell me,” Keith said.  He needed Shiro’s voice to ground him.  He was already getting hard again. 

“Used to go back to my room after watching you spar.  Close my eyes and pretend you’d followed me back.  I’d take off all my clothes and lay on the bed, pretend you were telling me how to touch myself,” Shiro said as he began to pick up the pace of his thrusts.  Keith felt himself being pushed up the bed little by little with each thrust.

“I couldn’t see your face because of the mask you never took off, but I knew I’d be able to hear the passion in your voice.  You wouldn’t touch, but I imagined you rubbing yourself in the damn suit of yours.  Imagined hearing your breath hitch as you’d come inside your suit just watching me.  And I’d come so hard, listening to you.”  Shiro panted into his ear. 

“How is reality working out for you?” Keith asked. 

Shiro let out a sharp laugh.  “So much damn better,” he said as he pressed his lips to Keith’s again.  He could feel Shiro losing his rhythm a little, and he knew he was close again.  He pushed at Shiro’s shoulders and made him stop. 

“I want to ride you,” he said against Shiro’s mouth. 

“Keith,” he sounded pained, like he just might throw Keith into the bed and fuck him into orgasm before Keith could stop him, but then he watched Shiro swallow hard and nod.  “If that’s what you want.”  He gave Keith one last kiss before he pulled away and dropped onto his back next to Keith. 

Keith took a deep breath as he sat up and straddled Shiro’s hips.  He leaned forward and braced one hand on Shiro’s chest. With the other, he guided himself back onto Shiro’s hard cock.   

It was an entirely different feel from this position, and when Keith rocked forward, he received a loud moan from Shiro.  He could feel Shiro deeper in him now and Keith had the control now.  

“Like that?” Keith asked as he rocked his hips again.

“I’m so damn close, Keith,” Shiro said.  His hands were clenched in the sheets as if he needed an anchor to keep from touching Keith.  Keith rolled his hips a few more times, then lifted himself off Shiro’s cock and sank back down.  They both groaned at that, so he kept doing it. 

“Keith, please,” Shiro begged. 

“Touch me, Shiro.”

Shiro’s hands moved to his knees and slid up to his thighs.  His fingers dug into flesh as he fucked up into him and held Keith in place.  Keith was so overwhelmed with sensation, but he couldn’t close his eyes. He had to be watching when it happened.

“More,” Keith said. 

He moved up Shiro’s cock again and sank back down, and this time Shiro gripped Keith’s waist to support him. 

And then it happened.  And he knew. 

As Shiro gripped his waist, his fingers gripped the edge of his soulmark.  It was instantaneous, the knowledge that this was his.

His soulmate. 

He came so hard he had to catch himself before he fell onto Shiro’s chest.  But even as he did Keith watched the widening of Shiro’s eyes and heard the hitch of his breath. He felt Shiro’s body surging up into him and the way Shiro’s hands pulled him down further, burying himself as far as he could inside Keith’s body.  They came together, and Keith didn’t think he could ever feel anything as amazing as this moment. 

Shiro’s left hand never left his mark but the other cupped Keith’s cheek and brought him down for a kiss.

“Keith,” Shiro said his name, but it sounded like a question. 

“Soulmate,” Keith said as he looked him in the eyes.  “They say you know the first time you touch the mark.”

Shiro smiled up at him.  “So, I’m your soulmate?”  Keith nodded.  “Now can I see it?”  Keith nodded again as he lifted himself off Shiro’s lap and laid down on his stomach beside him.

“Yurak, this is beautiful,” Shiro said, and Keith felt his fingers trailing over the mark.  “This is our mark?”

Keith shivered at the claim Shiro’s words had, and he nodded his head, afraid to show Shiro that.  He should have known the other man would catch it. 

“I can tell you like it when I touch our mark.”   Keith shivered again, and he felt Shiro smile against his shoulder as he pressed a kiss there. “So, you like that too, huh?”

“Shiro,” Keith said and turned to look at him over his shoulder. Although his voice was teasing, there was nothing but love in his eyes. 

“I’ve been looking for you for so many years,” Shiro said softly. “I almost can’t believe it’s you.  I started to think I made it all up in my head but... I went to the hospital and got the records to show that you were there. I went to the last address they had for you.  Just an old shack in the desert, but I used to go out there sometimes and imagine what Keith Kogane did in that house, in that yard.“

“It’s still there?”

Shiro nodded.  “Yeah.  I’d sneak out after curfew, grab my speeder and head out to stargaze, try to set everything right in my head.  I know it doesn’t make much sense, but it helped.”  Shiro continued to run his fingers over Keith’s back.  “If you ever wanted to go back, we could sneak back there,” he added.  “Or just spend a night under the stars.”

Keith turned over and looked at Shiro.  “The only reason I wanted to return to Earth was for you.  I don’t need a shack in the desert.  Home is you.”

Shiro pulled him into a kiss and then continued to move him until Keith was lying on top of him.  Keith laughed at the manhandling, but Shiro just smiled up at him. 

“Until you get your fill, huh?” Keith asked teasingly.

“You said I could have you any way I wanted.”

There was a knock at Keith’s door just as Shiro’s hand began to slide down his back.  Keith groaned as he got up and hit the intercom.  He usually just answered the door, but he wasn’t going to get dressed unless he had to.  “What?”

“Did you find Shiro?  Is everything okay?” Lance asked.

Of course, it was Lance.  The guy drove Keith crazy sometimes, but he really cared about everyone on the ship. Keith let out a deep breath as he looked over at Shiro.

“Yeah, I found him.  We’ll be down in the lounge in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Yurak.”

He walked away from the door, and Shiro pulled him back down on top of him.  “You could have just said we’d see them in the morning,” he grumbled.

Keith sighed.  “Maybe, but Krolia isn’t the most patient person when it comes to me.  She’d have broken my door if I didn’t answer.”

Shiro looked a bit wide-eyed at that.  “Yeah, we should probably get dressed and head back to the lounge,” he said quickly.  “And maybe _not_ tell your mom about the sex parts.”

Keith laughed, but he totally understood the point.  He really didn’t want the others to know their ‘heart to heart’ about soulmates had mostly taken place in bed.  

“Good idea.  Let’s get some clothes on.”

They spent a few minutes helping each other get cleaned up, which meant they spent more time than necessary because Shiro couldn’t seem to stop touching Keith’s soulmark and Keith couldn’t stop kissing him in return.  

“Don’t put the Blade uniform back on tonight,” Shiro said when Keith picked the suit up.  “I can’t … I want to be able to touch it,” he admitted.

Keith shook his head and let out a long-suffering sigh, but he went to his closet and pulled out a set of clothes to put on.  It happened to be the first outfit Shiro had bought him, back before this all started.

“Why did you do it?” Keith asked.

“What?”

“The clothes.  The festivals.  All of it.  Why did you try so hard to be my friend?”

Shiro shrugged as he slid his feet into his boots.  “You were alone,” he said.  “You probably won’t believe this, but ever since the fire, whenever I saw someone alone it made me wonder about you.  If you’d found someone to take care of you.  People say I’m a good person because I was so patient with the strays at the Garrison. I just kept hoping that somewhere, someone had done the same for you.  I wanted to—I don’t know—put it out there into the universe.  ‘I’ll keep helping these people who need me to help them find someplace to belong, but you take care of him.’”

“Until you could get there.”

Shiro smiled.  “Yeah,” he said as he pulled Keith close.  “I’m here now though, and I’m gonna take care of you now, Keith.  I’m never letting you go again.”

Keith let Shiro press one more kiss to his lips before he moved out of range of his ridiculously long arms and finished dressing.  When they were both decent, they left his room and headed back to the lounge where the others were waiting.

“Is everything okay?” Krolia asked when they walked back into the room.  Everyone else was quiet as they looked at the two of them.  When Keith looked at Shiro, it was obvious the Voltron Leader wasn’t going to say anything.  He was too busy blushing and trying to avoid Krolia’s gaze. 

It was too sweet, and Keith really wanted to kiss away whatever Shiro was worried about, but he figured he should probably say something before the PDAs began.  

“Everything is fine.  So, we were talking about soulmarks, right?” Keith asked as he moved to sit down on the couch.  

Shiro sat beside him, though he didn’t seem to notice that he’d set his arm on the chair back behind Keith, nor that his thumb was running over part of Keith’s soulmark.  It seemed once Shiro had touched it, he was drawn to it.  Keith was definitely okay with that.

The others turned to him, and he could see Krolia’s smile.  

“So, I figured out when I got my soulmark,” he said.  “The night my father died, he was called to put out a fire and he died trying to get a couple of people out.  It wasn’t far from my Dad’s station, and I had come over to have dinner with him.  When I saw the flames, I ran. By the time I got there, it was already too late. I managed to get past everyone and ran in anyway.  I would have died, except some Garrison student pulled me back and saved me from a falling beam.”

“No way!” Hunk exclaimed.  

Keith nodded.  “At the time, I thought I had been injured, but the hospital said I was fine.  That was because I received my soulmark the moment the Garrison student pulled me back.”

“Shiro was the Garrison student,” Pidge filled in the rest.

“I didn’t know that,” Keith replied.  “I never knew his name.”

“I knew Keith’s human name,” Shiro finally took up the narrative.  “I had smoke inhalation and a few burns, so the hospital refused to let me go see Keith right away.  By the time I was able to try to find him the next day, the Blade had already come and taken him off of Earth.”

“So, you were looking for Shiro the whole time?” Regris asked with a grin.

“Shut up, Regris,” Keith mumbled.   The rest of the Blade laughed outright, and Krolia’s eyes narrowed as if she was about to ask what the joke was.

“Is that funny?” Lance beat her to it.  

“Only because we’ve been watching Yurak go out of his way to try to impress the Black Paladin since he first set eyes on him.”

“I did not!”

“And we have watched him struggle because of the boy he left behind on Earth.  That they are one and the same is funny.”

“I hate you,” Keith said petulantly.  He felt Shiro pull him closer and he didn’t have to fight it now, the desire to just fall into him.  “I’m leaving the Blade to come work for Voltron,” he told him.  “You can find something for me, right?  Black likes me.  Black would help me out, wouldn’t he?”

Shiro’s eyes widened at the comment, and a second later they could all hear the roar of the Lions through the castle.

“What the hell was that?” Krolia asked.

Allura, who had been oddly quiet during all of this, just smiled at the two of them.  “The Black Lion acknowledged your claim as the Black Paladin’s soulmate.  The Lions were giving you their acceptance as well.”

“What, do you think Black would really let me fly him?”

Keith was halfway out of his seat before Shiro grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back down.  “Don’t even think about it, Yurak!” Shiro said with a laugh.  “You’re not leaving me to go fly across the galaxy in my stolen Lion!”

“You could come with?” Keith offered.

“Next day off, we’ll see how it goes,” Shiro said.  Keith pouted a little, but he knew it was the best offer he was going to get.  Besides, he really didn’t think Black would let him pilot him.  And he had other things to do tonight.  Like, pamper his soulmate.

“It seems like congratulations are in order,” Allura said as she stood.  “Hunk, do you have anything in the kitchen to celebrate such an occasion?”

Hunk smiled.  “You know, I have just the thing.  Give me a few minutes to put it together.”

He didn’t even have to ask before Matrof and Kozak were following behind to give him a hand.

“You know, as much as they help Hunk, they could probably cook just as well as him at this point,” Shiro commented.  

The conversation turned away from them for a few minutes, and Keith watched as Krolia disengaged from the group and went to stare out of the window.  He followed her and stood by her side quietly, waiting.

“It’s no wonder you tried so hard,” Krolia said cryptically.  “When I first met you, you already had so much fight in you, like you had to prove you were good enough to the world.  I think I understand now.”  She smiled softly at him.  “You found him, but he was taken from you so quickly.  You knew there was someplace out there where you belonged, but nothing fit.  You tried so hard to make yourself fit.  I wish I had understood.”

“It wasn’t like that, Krolia,” Keith replied.  “You don’t need to blame yourself for anything.  I’ve had a good life.  And the fact that I just found out that the man I’ve been in love with is really my soulmate?  That shouldn’t make you sad.”

“I just want what’s best for you, Keith,” she said softly.  She looked over his shoulder, and he didn’t need to guess that Shiro was behind him.  A second later, Keith felt Shiro’s hand slide under the back of his shirt to rest at the base of his back, over part of the soulmark.

“I’ll take care of him, Krolia,” Shiro promised.  “I’ve been looking for him since that day. I won’t let anything happen to him now that I have him.”

The others were quiet behind them, and Keith knew they were listening, but he didn’t try to stop them.  They were a close-knit team, a family in most aspects, and they had come a long way together since they’d all come to live in the Castle of Lions.  He couldn’t begrudge their curiosity.  Not when it really came from a place of concern and compassion.

“Keith used to say something.  A mantra, almost, when he was sad or when something was wrong.”

“‘I will find you, Keith Kogane.  Take care until I get there,’” Keith recited the words again, and he felt Shiro rest his forehead against his temple.  

“You were little more than a child yourself, from what Keith said.  What did you plan on doing, if you had found him?” Krolia asked. 

“I don’t know,” Shiro answered.  “But he was alone, and I always knew that he was mine to look after.  I pulled him from the fire, so he was mine.  ‘Until I get there,’ that’s what I said.  Because I planned to take care of him myself back then.  I still do.”

Krolia smiled at Shiro.  “I suppose we’ll be getting to know each other a lot better then.”

Hunk chose that moment to come back with a tray full of snacks and Kozak had some sort of aqua sparkling drink in glasses.  They drank and laughed, and they celebrated the good because they never knew if the next day would throw them into the middle of another battle.

Tonight was good though.  When everyone had their share and the night looked to be winding down a little, Keith told Shiro to follow him in a few minutes so as not to make a big deal about them leaving together.  

Shiro pulled him close with a smirk, then whispered softly in his ear, “Take care until I get there.”  

Keith bit his lip just for that, then quietly slipped out while the others were distracted.  He went back to his own room and started the water in the shower.  Keith wanted to loosen up the muscles that were already starting to get sore, and he hoped a certain soulmate of his would be quick enough to join him.

He smiled, because in all the year he had been saying the words, he had never realized how much he had relied on them.  How much it mattered to him to have someone out there that would come to him, that would find him and love him just as he was.  Half-breed.  Too small.  Too smart-mouthed.  Too intense.  Too angry. 

But Shiro never cared about those things.  He had befriended Keith, met him on every level, and gave him something to lean on.  Without ever knowing that his words had given Keith the will to keep fighting all along.

“‘I will find you, Keith Kogane.  Take care until I get there,’” he said one last time.

He heard the door open, and then he felt strong arms wrap around him.  “I’m here to take care of you now, Keith Kogane,” Shiro whispered in his ear.  “I won’t ever lose you again.  You said I saved you that day, but I was lost, Keith.  I was too young to be at the Garrison and so confused, trying to be someone I wasn’t.  That day?  You saved me.”

Keith turned in his arms and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.  “We saved each other.”

 


End file.
